Investiture Ceremony - Senior Council 2020 - 21
Great leaders don’t tell you what to do. They show you how it’s done.”
An effort to cultivate transformational leaders who would don the mantle of excellence in all that they do, culminated in the Investiture ceremony held at the Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon for Senior Council for the year 2020-21
Members of the Student Council, appointed through a rigorous process of nominations, interviews and democratic elections marched with their best foot forward and were formally invested with responsibility. All students were inspired to adopt the principles of collaboration and cooperation.
The ceremony was addressed by the Academic Head- Mr. Paul Hetherington. The outgoing Head Boy- Vansh Kapoor and the outgoing Head Girl- Ipsa Yadav passed the school flag to the new Head Boy-Krishna Verma and the new Head Girl- Navya Pathania. A total of twenty-eight students were badged by the Principal- Ms. Monica Sagar and Mr. Paul Hetherington. The students will be handling different Council positions such as Sports Captain, Vice Sports Captain, House Captains, Vice House Captains, Secretary- Community Connect, Deputy Secretary community Connect- Media & IT, Editorial Board and Culture, Coordinator- Performing Arts, Coordinator- Visual Arts, Illustrators, Photographers, and Editors. The Head Girl- Navya Pathania read the oath which was repeated after her by every Council member. The ceremony came to a close by a vote of thanks address given by the Principal.
Anandam Grades 1-6
Anandam 2019-20
Anandam means bliss, “a state of bliss”.
We at Shiv Nadar School strongly believe that experiential learning is the base to ignite curiosity and make students lifelong learners so that they can paint their own canvas and create something unique.
The Aha program aims to provide multifarious opportunities: a platform for students to showcase their inner artist.
The Anandam programme may have ended but the artistic immersion as always leaves us with memories and gleeful anticipation in the greed of what is to come next year.
The Highlights
Gr. 1 & 2
Dance
The visual treat was presented through performances of Kathak mudras followed be a dance showcasing ‘Raas’, Manipuri dance with the festival of Holi as its theme, a performance of the basic steps of Bharatanatyam, the Rajasthani folk dance of ‘Kalbeliya’ and the soulful Russian Ballet filled with poise and grace.
Music
A euphonic presentation of Hindustani vocal through the understanding of “Swara and Alankara”, the rhythm and melody. The western music group sang “Up Above My Head’ followed by an inspirational song ‘Aao Hum Sab Haath Milayen’.
Theatre
A performance of ‘Can the Monkeys Fast?’ highlighted the tricks and ideas of the mischievous monkeys who were determined to fail the plan of their leader. The innovative invention of shoes was depicted in the play ‘Joote Ki Khoj’. The perfection with which the young learners performed the play ‘Hansel and Gretel reimagined’ charmed everyone. Incredible confidence and finesse were highlighted in the students’ performance in the play ‘Peter Piper’.
Visual Arts
The display included the of art and creativity, in clay modelling, terracotta relief sculpture, sketching, inkblot painting, bottle art, paper collage, and origami. The exhibits illustrated the innovation, creativity and talent of the young learners and the effort put in by them.
Grade 3 & 4
Dance
India is known for its rich cultural legacy and our heritage. Our culture is well embedded in our Indian classical dances. A Meera Bhajan set to the Bharat Natyam dance form, the divine stories of Radha-Krishna in the song “Natvar Nagar Raas Rasikvar” in the Kathak form and “The song of Flute” in Manipuri. Making its debut to the enthralled audience was the Russian Classical Ballet performed to the “Guide to the Orchestra”.
Music
The musical stirrings of the multi-talented students were presented through a medley of Indian and Western compositions right from the patterns of shudh notes of Raag Bhopali, to Songs from the Early Rock’n’Roll era to the foot-tapping notes of Bob Marley’s Reggae Music.
Theatre
Keeping up with the Dance and music baskets were the theatre performances. Panchatantra tales re-mixed; The Legend of Mulan, based on the Chinese legend Fa Mulan; the Adventures of Chinnari (a brave girl in search of truth up against monsters) and The Strange Agreement (story-based with a post office as its backdrop). A spectacular, comical voice intoned and expressive poem recitation of Roald Dahl’s “The Three Little Pigs had the audience chuckling with mirth.
Visual Arts
Creations in Macrame, high relief and hollow terracotta models, study and emulation of paintings in the pointillism style of artist George Seurat, art inspired by Graphic designer Matt W. Moore, Tubism works of Fernand Leger and Pop-art era artist Roy Lichtenstein.
Grade 5 & 6
Dance
Our young dancers explored the genre of Mallari under Bharat Natyam style. Presented a “stuti” in praise of Lord Krishna in Manipuri style. “Nritta” followed by a Bhajan and the “Bhaav paksh” aspect of Katha. Balancing the Indian dances was the contemporary Russian Classical Ballet performance.
Music
Besides a western vocal performance of the yesteryears Pop band ABBA and Hindustani vocal bandish in teental from Raag Yaman, the students presented musical instruments performances too. Various traditional compositions such as uthaan, layakaari, tithai, qaida, tukra, chakradaar and reela in teental were presented over the Tabla. A classic rock piece, “Another Dime” and parts of the song “Nothing else matters” on the Guitar. A more advanced understanding of the Guitar was presented via the famous song “Hallelujah”. Applying their groove knowledge with the song “We’ve got us” over the Drums. “Vande Mataram” and a bandish in Raag Nat Bhairav (composed by the Mentor) were performed on the Violin. “Annie’s song” and “Perfection” by Ed Sheeran were performed on the keyboard.
Theatre
An enhanced understanding of theatre production was the key to this year’s learnings through the enactments of Munshi Premchand’s “Do bailon ki katha”, “Maulavi and washerman” from Jataka Tales and “The Little Prince”. This year the students also dabbled in the art of Mime, they divided up into 3 groups to explore different topics, namely, the effect of smartphones in our lives, building an understanding of the civic sense and social ethics and pertinent, relevant issues in the current socio-cultural and political scenario (national unity and diversity).
Visual Arts
Recycled material installation inspired by New Zealand based Austrian artist Fredrich Hundertwasser was created by the talented students. A study of the art of “high relief” and 3-dimensional realistic sculpture was portrayed via various artefacts. Landscapes depicting the understanding of nature through acrylic paintings were showcased. Learning the art of weaving and creating Ikat fabric on the loom was also a highlight.
Hands-on Science Workshop
A two hour long strong ‘Hands-on Science Workshop’ by Think Tac was conducted for the students of grades 3 to 5 within our school campus on 2nd March.
ThinkTac is pioneering hands-on experiential Science activities. This workshop was an initiative to help our students learn 'Science by doing', using simple material, followed with guided discovery through observation sheets leading to a discussion and a clear understanding of the topic.
This workshop was an initiative to help the students develop scientific thought and STEM skills required in line with 21st century skills.
The topic that got covered in the workshop was “Our Senses - Touch, Smell, Hearing"
The activities included:
·Sensitivity of skin: In the dry air of Indian winter, our lips dry quicker than skin in other body parts. Students created their own Lip Balm and explored the sensitivity of skin on different body parts.
·Smell Ammonia: Students experienced the smell of the gas liberated through an extremely diluted chemical reaction. They also experienced the temperature change using their sense of touch.
·Sound Vibrating Membrane: Students used a balloon as the vibrating membrane and made variations in the length of pipe to explore the impact of length on quality of sound.
All three activities kept the students excited, highly amused and engaged for two hours. The workshop sparked interest for science in the kids and provoked lots of understanding and thinking
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Vuca Chronicle | February 2020
VUCA Chronicles February 2020
The Dialogue
The Dialogue is an annual event hosted by Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon which facilitates debates and discussions that form opinions, questions, and beliefs. It is a platform where open communication is envisioned, and students are encouraged to juxtapose their learning within the classroom to the events that are happening around them.
The Dialogue, this year was hosted in February 2020 on a very important topic- ‘Is India today in consonance with its constitutional values?’. The event was facilitated by Ms. Soumya Kulshreshtha. The Speaker’s List comprised of four eminent personalities from different walks of life-
•Ms. Aditi Maheshwari Goyal- Executive director, Vani Prakashan and Managing Trustee, Vani Foundation.
•Col. Gopal Karunakaran: CEO, Shiv Nadar Schools and President, Shiv Nadar University.
•Ms. Devika Mittal: Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Bharti College, Delhi University.
•Ms. Suhasini Rao: Director and Co-Founder, Cube Route Advisory.
The discussion started with the Speakers talking about their idea of India and how times have changed in the last 50 years. After a fruitful discussion of about 40 minutes, the floor was opened for questions from the audience. Many probing questions were asked by both parents and students. The Dialogue was brought to a close with this contention that Constitution continues to hold relevance in contemporary times and will always be a relevant document enshrining the principles and values which India as a nation stands for.
Team Pawsitivity - Junior Astitva Samman 2020
The Capstone Team 'Pawsitivity' (Arushi Shah, Utpal Chauhan, Navya Jain, Navya Aggarwal, Sprihha Singh and Arushi Shah), at Shiv Nadar School, Noida, have been honoured with the 4th JUNIOR ASTITVA SAMMAN 2020 by Women and Child Committee of PHD Family Welfare Foundation on 22nd February 2020.
The JUNIOR ASTITVA SAMMAN encourages and motivates school students who have made an innovation that helps society.
The team Pawsativity received a standing ovation for their project and an award from Dr D.K. Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was indeed a proud moment for the whole school. The project was to make amputee dogs self-reliant by providing comfortable and affordable prosthetic paws and limbs.
Asia Regional Space Settlement Design Competition (ARSSDC)
The Asia Regional Space Settlement Design Competition (ARSSDC), a competition held by Atlantis in cooperation with Boeing and NASA. The competition deals with putting students across Asia to design a highly detailed proposal using their knowledge under timed conditions on a settlement in space. It aims to give students real industry experience and simulation in an environment which is not only international but also culturally enriching.
It is a yearlong investigatory exploration. 12 students (Uday Bhanu Singh, Naman Goyal, Adityan, Tanmay Kumar, Aaryan Mahesh Wari, Nandini Gaur, Arin Chaudhary, Romsha Singh, Madhav Luthra, Sidhant Bembey) from different subjects like Economics, Maths, Physics, Biology, Business, IT form a team and work together. After qualifying all three rounds and became Asia level runner-up.
Round 1: Qualifying round at India level. Students were given a Request For Proposal (RFP) on which they had to collaborate and do lots of research and make a proposal. This year’s RFP was “The Foundation Society requests that contractors propose to design, develop, and plan operations of the first large space settlement in solar orbit, which will move Earth-crossing asteroids to orbits where they can provide raw materials for refineries and factories in space”
Round 2 (India level): Once qualified in round 1, the team worked in a company where another four schools in India were the members. They were given fresh RFP. They were mentored by a group of scientists (from NASA and India) and then made a proposal (timeline: 36 hours) and finally presented to mass in the auditorium. They confidently handle the questions of scientists in front of 26 schools from different parts of India and made us proud by qualifying round 2.
Round 3(Asia level): Round 2 was repeated at Asia level. Students from Thailand, China, Japan, Iran, Afghanistan collaborated in a team and worked on a fresh RFP with a new challenge. Shiv Nadar School, Noida students were Runner up at the Asia level
Green School Award
Green School Program (GSP) is an environmental education programme directed to subtly sensitizing students to the environment through hands-on and thought-provoking activities. It is also an environment management system that audits, through students, the consumption of natural resources within school campuses and help schools become good environmental managers by deploying pragmatic solutions to reduce the wastage of precious resources. GSP is a self-assessment programme in which our school audited the use of resources and map their consumption and wastage. The exercise involved the collection of information under the following heads: Air, Energy, Water, Land, Waste, and Food.
Shiv Nadar School, Noida took part in the audit process in 2016, 2017 and 2019. We started our journey with the help of environment club children in the middle school to collate the information, evidence and conducted a school-wide survey to validate the data given by Administration team. In later years, we reviewed and reflected on our previous year’s performance, devised the strategies to make our school Green by putting the best practices forward. We are delighted to inform that Shiv Nadar School; Noida has been certified as ‘Green’ in the GSP Audit 2019-20. We have been shortlisted in the Green category for the GSP Climate Change Awards from over 1700 schools across the country that submitted the Audit this year and is among top 70 schools in India.
A core team was formed this year constituting teachers across grades and student council members (Primary and Secondary) along with environment club children to monitor the processes and provide us with the documents/data of the best practices and initiatives taking place in school. We are proud of the fact that we have been doing well in the food and waste section and have been able to show good practices being followed. We have also improved our performance graph in the Land, Air, Water and Energy section this year by focusing on sharing the policies and initiatives taken in these sections.
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Robocup Juniors
RoboCupJunior (RCJ) is one of the best Robotics and Automation competitions in the world. It focuses on education and aims to introduce the larger goals of the RoboCup project (creating robots) to primary and secondary school children. RCJ organizes 3 types of competitions namely: dance, rescue and soccer. The first international RoboCup Junior competition was held in Melbourne, Australia. Since then, it has been held in various countries viz. 2014: Brazil; 2015: Germany. RoboCup Junior (RCJ) inculcates interest in S.T.E.M Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). It brings together young people from all over the world to exhibit their creativity & problem-solving skills through educational robotics competition.
Rescue Line - The competition mission is to locate natural disaster victims from a building, where the rescue personnel in place need robotic assistance in dangerous areas.
In the Rescue Line category, we had 35 teams participating in this category. We had two teams(TeamSystem Overload and Team Robotomists) St from our school, two from Shiv Nadar School Faridabad and one team from Shiv Nadar School, Gurugram. Each team had two runs and the best out of two was taken as the Final Score.
Team System Overload (Aditi Gangadharan, Mudit Adityaja, Nikhil Sundaresan and Viryansh Rastogi) secured the first place with a perfect run. This team had the best Robot Design and also were declared as the Team with the best overall performance. Team System Overload is technically qualified to represent the country in Robocup International France 2020 and participate in Robocup Asia Pacific Japan 2020
Team Robotomists (Kabir Talwar, Naman Goyal, Sidhant Bembey and Tanmay Kumar ) secured Fifth place and they are technically qualified to participate in Robocup Asia Pacific Japan 2020
Rendezvous with Francesc Miralles-Author IKIGAI
“At the end of the day, all we want is to be happy” a very thought-provoking statement made by Francesc Miralles while addressing the audience at Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon who were gathered on 22nd January 2020 to have a conversation with the mind behind the book ‘IKIGAI – The Japanese secret to a long and happy life’. The audience at the event not only comprised the student, teacher and parent body of Shiv Nadar School but also of book lovers from all over Delhi NCR. He began the interaction by acknowledging his deep appreciation and gratitude towards the audience and went on to explain what his book was about.
Mr. Miralles stated that according to the Japanese, everyone has an Ikigai. Some people have found their Ikigai, while others are still looking, though they still carry it within them. According to those born in Okinawa, the island with the most centenarians in the world, our Ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning. With the help of multiple anecdotes from his life which included how he found writing to be his true calling, he explained to the keen listeners how they could find their Ikigai. Following that, he spoke about the importance of prioritizing one’s happiness over money as he believed money to be a natural consequence of one’s pursuance of their passions and aspirations. The audience was extremely interactive during the session by asking Mr. Francecs multiple questions.
When an audience member asked him how one could get the courage to change their Ikigai multiple times, he replied by giving an example of the Spanish singer – Julio Iglesias who used to be a football player but lost his ability to play due to an accident. He explained that when something doesn’t go our way in our lives and we think of it to be the end of the world, maybe, that’s the beginning of something new. The session was an extremely enriching experience and motivated every single person in the audience to find their Ikigai
